Redistricting reform gains momentum
Virginian-Pilot. December 11, 2007
Four senior lawmakers with divergent party and regional loyalties have reached the same conclusion on one of the state's most politically ticklish issues.
They have examined the method used after each Census to redraw legislative districts and found it to be sorely out of whack.
For years, the process has been blatantly partisan and predatory. The party in power uses computer databases to craft safe districts for most of its incumbents and undermine their political opponents.
The system pits Republican against Democrat, rural against urban and black against white.
Sens. Ken Stolle and Creigh Deeds and Dels. Brian Moran and Harvey Morgan have all agreed to assist with a proposal that would wrest redistricting power away from the legislature and hand it over to a bipartisan commission for the next round of map-making in 2011.
The lawmakers come from both parties and they represent rural, urban and suburban districts. They share one important attribute: they care about the integrity of Virginia's political process.
These lawmakers recognize the debilitating effect that partisan redistricting has on their communities and their constituents.
Redistricting is the reason residents in West Norfolk are represented by delegates who live in Portsmouth.
Redistricting is the reason the legislature spends more time each year debating social issues than ways to improve academic standards.
Redistricting deters promising young leaders from seeking elected office and discourages voters from going to the polls on Election Day.
Momentum for reform is building outside the State Capitol. Groups as diverse as the Future of Hampton Roads, AARP, the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy and the Virginia Business Council have formed a coalition to support a bipartisan redistricting commission.
Members of the coalition and their allies in the legislature have yet to hash out key issues such as who will sit on the commission and how to preserve minority representation.
But those matters should not become an excuse for delay. In the 2008 General Assembly, Democrats will control the State Senate and Republicans will be in charge of the House of Delegates, giving both parties reason to consider a change in the political rulebook.
A favorable environment for reform exists now. State leaders should not allow this opportunity to slip away.
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